Archives: March 2006

Military software maker, Rite-Solutions, has literally created their own stock market of ideas. Any employee can propose a new technology or business venture. These proposals become stocks which the employees can buy or sell with $10,000 in “opinion money” every…more

My first car, at 16, was a used white and green Saab. It looked like a bulbous, overgrown pear on wheels and I loved it. I’m shopping for a new car now so I’m paying attention to the car advertising…more

Can a Web 2.0 company be run by version 1.0 managers? How are 2.0 and 1.0 managers different ?…more

I’m not feeling well today. A little cold has arrived. But I’m listening to a panel at Digital Hollywood anyway. Oren Katzeff from Yahoo is telling a story about his 8, 13, and 15-year old sisters. How they IM, surf…more

I was over at Digital Hollywood yesterday in Santa Monica. A couple of panel tidbits: Rio Caraeff, Vice President and General Manager of Universal Music Mobile: 75 to 80% of all UMM’s revenue from ringtones, mastertones, ringbacks etc. comes from…more

I was sitting next to a United Airlines pilot on flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles tonight. We got to talking. He’d been a United pilot for 9 years. I asked him how his business was. “I’m working…more

I was in the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf store in Beverly Hills recently. I hadn’t been there in awhile. The man at the counter seemed to take this fact out on me when I presented my Pink Drink Card…more

The Web-site spoof of the Fox Television hit “The OC” that’s written and directed by students at Boston College and called “The BC” (naturally) is catching on. The parody of the hit Fox show is created and directed by actors…more

Shel Israel is clarifying his earlier post, Maybe Your CEO Shouldn’t Blog. Seems Shel got a strong reaction from some folks including blogger CEOs Ross Mayfield and Jim Estill and felt a new post was in order. To paraphrase Shel’s…more

If you’re in business, you have competitors. So you always have one eye on the other guy. You visit their website. Download their product docs. Read their press releases, news stories. Talk to their customers. It’s not about mimicry. Although…more

I watched “A to Z: The Unauthorized Story of Led Zeppelin” DVD last night. It got me thinking about stories, and the need to tell them in business. When Led Zeppelin debuted in 1968 with their hard rock take on…more

Just came across this highly readable post “Ten Rules for Web Startups” from Noah Glass, the co-founder of Odeo. —>…more

In the recent list of Next Net 25 is 37signals. 37signals makes web-based management tools including Basecamp which I’ve used since my friend Tom Dolan at Polychrome recommended it to me. I can tell you how great Basecamp is but…more

There’s a great article on Silicon Valley Watcher about how blogging is a disruptive innovation that’s making traditional PR much less relevant. The writer Tom Foremski asks the question — which many smart CEOs are asking which is — why…more

Here’s a lala update. I got my lala Starter Kit in the mail today with 5 pre-stamped shipping envelopes and protective CD covers. Went online at lala and looked up my trading history and saw I had promised to send…more

Last week, I had lunch with the head of the new media department at one of the major music labels. She was recounting a recent marketing meeting for one of her label’s big Spring releases. She was asked by the…more

Every day I get at least one email from a b2b company with an offer to attend an online webinar or receive a new case study. It’s my fault, of course. I sign up for things using my gmail account…more

I signed up for the LaLa used CD swap service today. It allows you, as a member, to list CDs you have and are willing to send to other members in return for the ability to request CDs you want…more

Business 2.0 takes a look at some firms that may become big on the so called Next Net. It’s worth checking out….more

Larry Weber at Syndicate has a great quote which I summarize here: “The stronger the dialog, the stronger the brand; the weaker the dialog, the weaker the brand. The best (future) writers for the New York Times are writing blogs….more